Manure-fork.



B. SUHWARTZMAN. MANURE FORK.

APYLIUATION FILED JULY 6,1910.

978,661. Patented Dec.13,1910.

. Inventor Witnesses W I Attorneys UNITED STATES PATENT oEEIoE.

EDWARD SCHWARTZMAN, OF TAMPA, KANSAS.

MANURE-FORK.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD SCHWARTZ- MAN, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Tampa, in the county of Marion and State of Kansas,have invented a new and useful Manure-Fork, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to forks for gathering manure and the like andits object is to provide a device of this character adapted to be drawnover the ground, the tines thereof constituting runners on which thedevice will travel.

Another object is to provide a fork having its tines connected in anovel manner, said fork being cheap to operate and being easily repairedshould one or mpre of its tines become broken or otherwise renderedunfit for use.

WVith these and other objects in view the invention consists of certainnovel details of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter morefully described and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings the preferred form of the invention hasbeen shown.

In said drawings :Figure 1 is a perspective View of the fork. Fig. 2 isa central vertical longitudinal section therethrough.

Referring to the figures by characters of reference 1 designates a backboard of wood or other suitable material and to which are secured theupstanding portions 2 of the side tines 3, these upstanding portionsbeing provided, at their upper ends, with forwardly extending arms 4overhanging the tines 3 and terminating in laterally extending studs 5.The upstanding portions 2 are detachably secured to the back board 1 byU-bolts 6. The central tine 7 has an upstanding portion 8 secured bymeans of U-bolts to the middle portion of the back-board 1, and theupper end of this upstanding portion is bent backwardly as indicated at9 to form a support for the connecting strip 10 which is riveted orotherwise secured to this rearwardly extending portion and has forwardlyextending terminals 11 bearing on the arms at and secured thereto byrivets or the like. U-bolts 12 extend around the forwardly extendingportions 11 and also around the arms 4: and serve to secure to the armsthe handles 13 which extend rearwardly from the device. Additional tines14: are inter- Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed July 6, 1910.

Patented Dec. 13, 1910.

Serial No. 570,612.

posed between the tines 3 and 6 and each of them has an upstandingportion 15 detachably secured to the back board 1 by means of U-boltsand screws, as shown. These upstanding portions 15 do not extend abovethe back-board 1 but are preferably flush with the upper edge thereof.

A yoke 16 is pivotally mounted, at its ends, upon the studs 5 and an eye17 may be formed in the center portion of the yoke so as to be engagedby a hook or the like whereby the fork can be readily drawn forward byone or more animals.

It will be seen that the points of the tines are elevated so that, asthe fork is drawn forward, it glides easily over the ground. Should anyone of the tines become broken or otherwise rendered unfit for furtheruse, it can be readily detached and a new one substituted therefor.While the back board 1 is preferably formed of wood, it is to beunderstood that, if preferred, metal may be employed.

Various changes can of course be made in the construction andarrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit orsacrificing any of the advantages of the invention as defined in theappended claims.

WVhat is claimed is 1. A fork including tines having upstandingportions, arms integral with and extend ing from said upstandingportions and over hanging the tines, a draft device connected to thearms, a detachable connection between the upstanding portions of saidtines, and additional tines attached to said connection and carriedsolely thereby, all of the tines constituting runners.

2. A fork including side tines having integral upstanding portions, armsextending from said upstanding portions and integral therewith, saidarms overhanging the tines, a draft device movably engaging the arms, aback board detachably secured to the upstanding portions of the tines,and additional tines havin upstanding portions detachably connectec tosaid back board.

3. A fork including side tines having upstanding portions, armsextending from and integral with said upstanding portions andoverhanging the tines, said tines and arms being substantially parallel,a draft device pivotally connected to the arms, a connecting striphaving forwardly extended terminals bearing upon the arms, handles, Intestimony that I claim the foregoing as means engaging the handles fordetachably my oWn, I have hereto affixed my signature 10 securing themto the arms and for detachin the presence of two Witnesses.

ably securing said terminal portions to the 1 arms, a back boarddetachably secured to the EDWARD SOHWVARTZMAN' upstanding portions ofthe tines, and inter-e Witnesses:

mediate tines having upstanding portions J. C. MEEHAN,

detaehably connected to the back board. MARIE STEMMERMAN.

